If you want to build something enduring – strong enough to stand in the changing winds – you start with the foundation. Right?

Tell me, is that controversial?

In the rush to produce more, faster, have we forgotten this?

The best brand creative – identity, messaging, campaigns, the full scope of brand expression – doesn’t generally happen just because the agency stumbles on a great idea. It happens because the groundwork was done first – getting the right people in the room to reveal what the brand means and stands for, what makes it different (and what it chooses not to say and do).

When clarity exists, everything builds from there. Your creative briefs are focused. As a creative team, you have something solid to push against. As a client, you have clear criteria to judge work against. Work comes faster, sharper, with less back-and-forth. And then – it lands with your audience, because it’s built on genuine, informed insight.

When clarity is missing, even brilliant designers and agencies struggle. Not lack of talent, weak foundations. Without clarity, how can you build and communicate as a strong brand? Be distinctive? Own a position in the customer’s mind? You’re just adding more stuff, hoping your house of straw holds up.

What does doing the groundwork involve?

I start with listening. Understanding where you’ve come from, where you are now, and where you’re trying to get to. Dig into your market, your competitors, your different audiences. Check also any assumptions you’ve been carrying (often without realising).

Then it’s about decisions. Yes, seeking insights. But more importantly distilling them into a clear point of view. What do you stand for? What makes you genuinely different? Why should anyone care. And how do we make that ‘sticky’.

And then, it’s about expression – finding the ideas and language that make your strategy tangible, memorable, and usable. Not a long document – a clear foundation. A guide that everyone in the organisation can understand follow, and act on.

The goal is simple: when you are ready to get creative, you know exactly what you're aiming for – and you recognise it when you see it.

This is the work I love to do

First digging, then building foundations, helping organisations get clear on what makes them matter. Inside and out. Ideas that are simple, actionable, sustainable – foundations that make everything built on them stronger.

What would change if your brand built everything from genuine clarity?

Maybe you’ve been rushing to get results, and are disappointed to fall short.

Maybe you’re an agency frustrated with re-briefs and re-writes, or a client thinking ‘these agencies just don’t get it’.

Maybe you’ve been seeking shortcut wisdom from a Californian Ai.

When.
Who’d have thunk it...

You may need to work with an Irish builder... 🖋️  

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